By: Joy Mindo on January 17, 2013
Kenya is undergoing election and the first party primaries under a new constitution are being held this week. Different people have sought for nomination leadership positions as governor, senator and members of parliament. One category of leaders who want to vie for these positions is religious leaders. A debate has ensued whether religious leaders can…
By: gfesadmin on January 17, 2013
Taking Care of Business Question: How are we preparing our youth for the world of work? Do they have the theological grounding as they encounter counterfeit values to stay true to Christian convictions? A sense of calling motivated early western Christian’s values of work. That vocational framework has deteriorated to merely getting a job to…
By: gfesadmin on January 17, 2013
Max Weber in his essay “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” discusses aspects of Protestantantism that helped spur the spirit of capitalism. Specifically, he analyzes the Calvinist belief in predestination and the elite, the idea of a work ethic and material gain, and the concept of a “calling” which involves individuals to become…
By: gfesadmin on January 17, 2013
„The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism“ by Max Weber is a collection of essays from 1904 and 1905, which were revised and published 1920. It is one of the most inspiring and ground-breaking works in sociology and especially in religion-sociology I’ve ever read. Weber presents his idea of a link between protestant ethic…
By: gfesadmin on January 17, 2013
“It is the change of moral standards which converted a natural frailty into an ornament of the spirit, and canonized as the economic virtues habits which in earlier ages had been denounced as vices. The force which produced it was the creed associated with the name of Calvin. Capitalism was the social counterpart of Calvinist…
By: gfesadmin on January 17, 2013
I love Christmas break. Time off from work, sleeping in past 10 a.m., hanging out with family and most of all playing Monopoly with my 10 year old daughter Grace. Now, don’t assume because Grace is 10 she isn’t a worthy opponent. In fact, the last two games she has beat me fair and square. …
By: gfesadmin on January 17, 2013
This semester my cohort is focusing on capitalism, consumerism and leadership. Our first assigned reading was Max Weber’s, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber penned it in German in 1904 and 1905, but it’s a book that speaks to the heart of today’s American society. There are lots of ideas from this…
By: gfesadmin on January 16, 2013
Spain is in the midst of a crippling financial crisis. Several months ago a friend of mine explained to me that this current crisis could be explained by the fact that the banks in Germany were controlled by Calvinistic Lutherans who believed that the doctrine of predestination applied to one’s economic station in life. If…
By: gfesadmin on January 16, 2013
Why Should the Devil have all the Good Music? These were familiar lyrics when I was a youth. Larry Norman had begun a revolution in Christian music. Loosely translated, it meant that we, as Christians, could still have fun! But in “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” by Max Weber, we’re shown that…
By: gfesadmin on November 19, 2012
Today we take for granted many uses of technology that were nonexistent just a decade ago. Furthermore, much of the technology that we can’t imagine living without today results from the convergence of media technology. In their chapter on convergence, Briggs and Burke provide a good working definition for the term convergence. They say, “The…
By: gfesadmin on November 18, 2012
Technology and communication have come a long way in the past couple of centuries. Can you believe it? The first stamp was produced in 1840 when letters were transported by ships and trains. Letters took weeks, sometimes months to be delivered around the world (Briggs and Burk 2010). Another communication invention in 1837 the telegraph…
By: gfesadmin on November 17, 2012
I flew into Jakarta early this week for a gender training of trainers workshop. While engaging in the workshop during the day, I read the second half of Briggs and Burke’s Social History of the Media at night. I couldn’t help but filter much of the information through the gender lens that I had donned.…
By: gfesadmin on November 16, 2012
In the past two weeks I read the book „A social history of the media. From Gutenberg to the internet“ by Asa Briggs and Peter Burke. Last week I concentrated more in the impact different early inventions like the printing press had on communication, media and our absorbing social behavior. This week now, we are…
By: gfesadmin on November 16, 2012
Centuries ago, Gutenberg took center stage with the printing press which allowed the masses access to books and articles that only the wealthy and affluent could afford. With such tools, now that the common people had an opportunity to be persuasive and use their knowledge as a powerful resource in their daily business transactions, social…
By: gfesadmin on November 15, 2012
We get all of our information through some form of media. Most people feel there is a bias and have a degree of skepticism. Reactions to media we do not agree with can be intense. Some think there is a subversive conspiracy. We may think a few powerful people seek to control society. The long…
By: Joy Mindo on November 15, 2012
This week the first railway line was opened by the president of Kenya. The last railway line was built in the 1930s. The new railway line has been built for commuters from the city center in Nairobi to the main international airport, 30km away. As I read the chapters on new processes and patterns, on…
By: gfesadmin on November 15, 2012
A Social History of The Media is a history book. It’s stated aim is “to show the relevance of the past to the present by bringing history into media studies and the media into history.” Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. Both Asa Briggs and Peter Burke wrote in a clear, understandable, and enjoyable style,…
By: gfesadmin on November 15, 2012
It is a day of great celebration in India and I hear the sounds of random fireworks. Millions of Indians all over India and the world are celebrating one of the most popular annual festivals of Hindus. It is Deepavali or ‘Diwali’ in short, the “festival of lights”. India knows how to celebrate a festival. …
By: gfesadmin on November 15, 2012
In the second half of A Social History of the Media, Briggs and Burke shift to an analysis of the more recent methods of communication. In the late 1800’s there was a move towards the blending of information and entertainment creatively called infotainment. Informing the public was (and is) a worthy goal for the…
By: gfesadmin on November 15, 2012
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. – John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn Jean-François Lyotard in his groundbreaking The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge spoke of the “computerization of society” and how this shift would highlight the connections and relations…
